


When It Hurts

by Meowser_Clancy



Series: Assorted Jimel AUs [7]
Category: Ghost Whisperer
Genre: F/M, Reincarnation, Role Reversal, True love conquers all, another life, switch it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 19:01:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9085765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meowser_Clancy/pseuds/Meowser_Clancy
Summary: Jim lost his wife way too soon, and he's still grieving when, three months later, he goes into a burning apartment building and saves a single mother's life.And it's like Melinda has come back from the dead, yet it's impossible for it to be Melinda...She'd always said she'd find a way back to him. Could it be that she finally succeeded?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [apedarling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/apedarling/gifts), [ghostwhispererfangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostwhispererfangirl/gifts).



> I don't even know where this came from. 
> 
> All I know is that I've had no words for so, so long and finally this came and reached fruition.

He didn't like to be reminded.

He didn't like to remember that his wife was dead.

Jim moved across the kitchen, putting the dishes into the sink, scraping a hand over his stubbled jaw.

"Why you, Mel?" He wondered aloud. "Why not me? Because I cannot tell that you're here."

He looked around himself, biting his lip. "I don't know," he admitted, shoulders shaking.

He choked his tears at the last, blinding second; it had been three months and he'd learned that the only way to not dissolve into himself was by ending it sooner rather than later.

And he had work. So much work. Enough work to lose himself in...Jim Clancy's intention every time he left the house.

"You'd be able to see," he finally whispered, voice raw. "But unless I go to your mother...and she insists she hasn't seen you…"

He breathed out, exhaustion in every movement.

He had work. So much work…

* * *

There was an apartment fire that day; something rare for Grandview since they didn't have that many complexes.

But Jim and Sulley got the call and were the first to respond, going over to the Fairway with sirens blazing.

It reminded him, all too forcefully, of living in the city; responding to reports of a burning apartment building and going in completely off kilter, only focused on getting everyone out, very impatient.

Too impatient?

He remembered the first moment he'd seen Melinda; he remembered, just a few minutes later, when he'd exited the building having saved that old man.

No. He hadn't been too impatient. It would have been a pity if their relationship had ended before it had begun.

He saw that the evacuation was already beginning; some residents had started to trickle out, knowing that something dangerous was happening here.

But the first person who spoke to him was the landlord, Thomas Jasinski. "I think that Amanda is still inside," he insisted. "Her daughter isn't home from school yet and Amanda usually sleeps until then."

A woman who slept until her daughter got home from school? A crease appeared in Jim's brow, not liking this story. Was she a drug addict?

"It's just since the accident," Thomas hurried to explain. "But her apartment is in the very back." He pointed with a shaking finger. "212."

Jim didn't hesitate; he couldn't afford to, this was literally his job.

He nodded to Sulley and they both delved into the building, oxygen masks at the ready.

It wasn't even that bad. The fire had started in the basement and the other men outside had already started to gain a hold of the fire raging.

Jim thought, or maybe just hoped, that the building wouldn't be lost entirely. It would make his job easier.

Sulley gestured and Jim replied; yes, they were continuing on.

There was a shift in the wind; if it hadn't been so hot, a shiver would have gone down Jim's back. He had a feeling that the fire had changed courses.

He had a feeling that unless they hurried, they wouldn't be getting out alive.

And neither would Amanda.

"Come on," he said, shoving forward, finally reaching apartment 212 and kicking the door in at the weakest point.

Sulley hovered, "I'll keep the walkway clear," he shouted and Jim just nodded, barging into the apartment with little heed to anything.

His eyes shot everywhere; the bedroom would likely be in the back. A meow, and a terrified cat shot past him.

Jim shouted to Sulley; he saw the other man reach out and grab the cat at the last possible moment.

If Jim located Amanda, they would have saved two lives today.

His brain was overworking, screaming at him to get out.

Another part of his mind was seductive, telling him that he could be with Melinda soon.

Very soon.

"Go out," he called to Sulley as he looked around himself. "I don't think anyone's here, I'll meet you outside."

He felt the hesitation, and then his partner left.

Jim kicked the bedroom open, and felt his breath freeze in his lungs.

Because Amanda was here, lying on the bed, still fast asleep. Her lips were parted, her hair was in a bun on top of her head.

And there was something about her that froze Jim, made his mind go straight to one person...his wife.

His very dead wife.

And yet it was there.

Jim bolted forward, picking the woman up and hustling from the room, not caring that she'd startled awake with a cry, fighting him a little.

"What the hell?"

"I'm saving your life, the building is on fire," he barked back, too confused and scared to be patient with her.

She kicked against him; he felt every curve and he knew that many women had the same body type as Melinda, but this seemed to be every single dip and angle of her.

And her voice.

Her voice was so like Melinda's too. "Let me go," she insisted. "I can walk on my own."

Oh god. Everything was starting again.

They'd reached outside and Jim fell through the door, finding that his feet were carrying him ever faster. The building was about to explode, he could feel it, and he jumped for cover at the last second, making sure that it was his body, and not hers, that took the brunt of the fall.

She moaned, protesting against the impact.

Jim held her close, cradling her, finally pulling back as the building screeched into an explosion.

"You're safe," he whispered. "I've got you."

Eyes met his; dark brown eyes. Eyes that were warm like cocoa, and seductive like chocolate.

They were Melinda's eyes. He knew it.

His lips parted, and he had no idea what he was doing, but this was...this had to be his wife. "Melinda," he whispered, his mind momentarily leaving him.

She seemed to melt into his arms, with a long sigh. "Jim," she breathed, and their lips met.

Their kiss was much hotter than the fire blazing behind them.

He pulled away much too soon, seeing her eyes staring up at him, full of desire...desire that turned to blankness...to confusion...to fear.

"What the hell?" She said, scrambling away from him.

The world flooded back to Jim, and he stumbled to his feet, scooping a protesting Amanda up into his arms again, carrying her to the ambulance.

He had no explanation for what had just happened.

But he would swear that it was his wife that he'd kissed.


End file.
